


On a Roof Somewhere

by 8bitdoves



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Comfort, Completed, Cute, Head pats, Wholesome
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-23
Updated: 2020-08-23
Packaged: 2021-03-06 19:02:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,642
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26073859
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/8bitdoves/pseuds/8bitdoves
Summary: You comfort Levi until he falls asleep in your arms. No plot just wholesome head pats, this man is way too emotionally unavailable to be the sex god you claim him to be.
Relationships: Levi/Reader
Comments: 6
Kudos: 58





	On a Roof Somewhere

**Author's Note:**

> I've never written this typa shit before but fuck it. I hope this brings at least one person some comfort. Have a good day.

It was late in the evening, the sky molting into a dark blue velvet, growing black in the very center. If you laid back and squinted hard enough, you could almost see the stars beginning to peek out under a layer of gloomy clouds. It had been an excruciatingly long day. You tried not to be a burden to the rest of the squad, but as each day bled into the next; the weight on your shoulders seemed to double. You had come up to the roof of the abandoned house where everyone was staying, to get some fresh air and clear your head of the day’s horrors. You tried not to think about all the people that had lost their lives, you tried to pull your mind away from the bloodshed and anguish, and up to the sky. At the budding stars.  
The night sky brought comfort, it was the only thing that had remained completely the same between your world and this one. You had always made jokes about ending up here, in the world where titans roamed the desolate landscape and where death was as familiar as an old friend. But never did you think that you would ever be here, among the people you thought you knew so well, though they knew nothing of you. You thought you knew the story pretty well, and with your sudden appearance you thought maybe you could save more lives, and protect the people you had only known through a screen.  
However, everyday seemed to be slipping further from your grasp, the control you thought you had slowly slipping as more scouts rode to their deaths. Each mission seemed to stray further from the original plot… for better or for worse you did not know. You tried not to think about that though, to think was only pain. You could only continue forward till you could not anymore, hoping there might be a light at the end of this endless tunnel.  
As you lay with your back to the cold roof tiles, the stars started to appear, twinkling bright against the darkening sky. There was a light breeze, but the summer heat balanced out the chill of the wind. You let it run through your hair and shirt, tinkling your skin. You let the wind wash away your fears and regrets as you fixed your gaze up to the stars, hoping if you stared hard enough you could travel back to your bed and escape this nightmare.  
The silence of the evening and brush of the wind against your check had almost lulled you to sleep, but the creak of the roof hatch opening made your eyes twitch open. You sat up, confused as to who would be encroaching on your nightly brooding. You weren’t close with anybody in particular, it was hard to have small talk with any of these people, you were so different you felt like you were both speaking a different language. You propped yourself up and almost froze completely when you saw who had climbed onto the roof. It was Levi, err.. Captain Levi you supposed. You had never gotten used to calling him that. You just stared at him as he slowly approached you. You both were in no way close, you weren’t even sure if he trusted you at all. The worst part about him was you could never read him, especially now you thought. His eyes were cast low and shadowed by his knitted brow, hair wisping over his cheeks. He was definitely short, petite you could even say. Of course you would never dream of saying that out loud. Although he was small, he always felt sturdy and powerful, or maybe it was just the way he carried himself. His arms were folded at his sides, you got the impression he was cold in his usual white button up. You stared up at him as he walked closer to where you were sitting, but you didn’t dare say a word.  
His steely eyes flicked up to look at you, “Can I join you?”  
The question made your heart freeze as his gravelly voice reverberated through you. His usual scowl didn’t match the sincereness of the question, it threw you off.  
You quickly threw the confused stare off your face and mustered up a shaky “Uh, yeah go ahead.” Nodding with what you hoped was a convincing smile.  
You scooted slightly to the right and felt yourself tense up in a mix of shock and embarrassment as he lowered himself to sit beside you. You watched him slowly bend his knees and lower a pale hand onto the roof tiles. You noticed him wince slightly as he lowered his weight off of his hand and onto the rooftop, it was very slight but you noticed a change in his normal scowl. For that split second his face seemed to soften and his lips twitched into a grimace before resuming to their normal frown. That’s right! You remembered seeing him hit his elbow hard yesterday when he was thrown off of his horse. As you looked at him, you felt a twinge of sadness deep within your chest. You imagined how tired he must have become, after years of having to carry the weight of humanity's survival on his shoulders. Day after day, watching his friends and comrades die for missions that might not even succeed. Every second he spent running towards a goal that seemed so distant and incomprehensible, to even yourself. You suddenly felt very pathetic for pitying yourself earlier, you had it good compared to the man sitting beside you. His reality was no dream, after all.  
Even though he was sitting right beside you, the two of you felt very far away.  
You couldn’t even think of anything to say (you wouldn’t dare bring up the elbow incident), so you stayed silent and let your gaze rise up to the now bright array of stars in the night sky. It seemed Levi was more comfortable with silence as well, and out of the corner of your eye you could see him crane his neck up to look at the sky as well. As another light breeze wisped past you, you noticed you could smell the freshly washed cotton he always wore. It reminded you of home, it was comforting and warm, like lavender or pine maybe. His soft white shirts were always a stark contrast to the landscape of grime and blood. You had always wondered how he kept his shirts so clean. You mouth twitched upward at the thought of him packing twenty identical white shirts every time he left on a mission outside the walls.  
The both of you sat together on the roof without saying a word for a long time, watching the sky grow ever darker as the moon cast a lazy ray of light down on the distant pine trees below. You sat next to him without moving or saying anything until you felt your skin start to itch with discomfort. You wanted to say something to him, to maybe try and break the steel tight exterior that was “Captain” Levi. You wanted to understand, wanted to get in his head and help him shoulder the pain you knew he felt. You gazed up at the stars, hoping maybe they would spell out the right words to say to him... no reply. “Just say something... anything!” you told yourself, taking a small deep breath to muster up a small ball of courage inside your chest.  
“Are you okay?” You asked quietly, mouth barely open. You kept your eyes locked on the sky, not daring to see if he heard you, you almost hoped he didn’t. A small moment of silence made your spine tingle with anxiety, your words echoing in your head. You brought your hands together and fiddled with them to keep from shaking.  
“Yes...just tired”  
It was quiet and low, but audible. You felt your heart sink with the blandness and very possible dishonesty of the answer. But then, what did you expect? You turned your gaze fully towards him for the first time since he walked over. To your relief, you realized he had turned his head away from you, so you were looking at the pale nape of his neck instead of meeting his eyes.  
Suddenly, his shoulder blades started to twist underneath his shirt as he began to shift his weight closer towards you. Scared he would turn around, you averted your gaze and stared down at your hands. The night was silent except for the smooth slide of his fingers on the roof tiles, and the quiet rustle of fabric as he moved closer. You clenched your teeth and locked your vision on your sweaty palms. You traced the lines on your thumb with your pointer finger, as you felt your breath tighten with anxiety. He was too difficult to read, too tight to unravel. You couldn’t tell what he was going to do. You’re best guess was that he had gotten up to leave, disturbed by the annoying friendliness of your question about his well being.  
Without warning, a warmth settled onto your thigh. The sudden weight made you turn your head without thinking, and the sight beneath you made your breath catch in your throat. Levi had moved to lay across the rooftop, head resting gracefully in your lap. If you couldn’t move a muscle before, now you were completely made of stone.  
He looked up to the sky, and you could see his eyebrows relax and the lines on his face begin to soften. His face might have relaxed slightly, but his body was tense and apprehensive. You could feel his shoulders under your leg, his muscles firm and uptight. You could tell he was on edge, and you wondered when the last time he had actually relaxed was. Someone like him probably didn’t sleep much, you had always noticed him to be the last to sleep and first to wake up. In the position he was in, his body has to constantly be in survival mode. Maybe he wasn’t strong and sturdy like you had originally thought, but rather uneasy and anxious. You felt a tremendous yearn to help him release this barrier he had put up to protect himself. You wanted him to relax, to warm up in your hands and then soften like putty, melting between your fingertips. Slowly, you raised a tentative hand up, and you watched your fingers tremble. Between your fingers you could see the stars dancing in the night sky, asking you what you were planning on doing with those fingers.  
With a fearless impulsiveness and an almost motherly instinct, you lightly brought your hand down onto Levi’s head. You watched his face very carefully, half expecting him to swat your hand away. He flinched at the touch, his eyebrows quickly creasing and lips twitching in an unreadable expression, but he didn’t move. Beneath your legs you could feel his chest rise and fall, the rhythm slowing a tiny bit. You slowly stroked his wispy black hair, making feather light motions with the very tips of your fingers. His hair was smooth and soft, the delicate strands contrasted his quite abrasive personality in an almost humorous way. You let his hair slip through your fingers, petting the shorter undercut underneath. Behind his ear felt velvety, like a peach. You continued to comb through his hair, his eyelashes tickling your palm as your knuckles brushed passed his temple.  
A small hitch in his breath made you turn away from his hair and look at his face. You watched as his lips parted for a moment before he spoke quietly, “What was your world like?”  
The question almost made you pause the caresses of his hair, it made you feel something you didn’t enjoy. The question ached like a knife to the heart, and you began to understand that the person laying in your lap was not the harsh and intimidating captain you had thought he was. He was just a boy, who was forced to grow up too fast. This wasn’t humanity’s strongest, he was just a person. He had never seen the ocean. Never been loved, or went to sleep knowing everything was going to be okay. Suddenly you felt as though he was a lot closer than you had originally thought. “Yes,” you thought to yourself, “I will tell you everything you want to know.”  
Shaking off the surprise jumping around in your stomach, you pull yourself together. Okay… you can do this. You take a deep breath before starting, still fondling his hair gingerly in your fingertips. “My world is unlike anything you have ever seen…”  
You feel a small smile form at the corners of your lips as you continue. “There are giant snowy peaks so tall the top reach above the clouds, there are oceans so wide and so blue that when you look out at the horizon, it appears as though the sky is melting into the sea. Someday I’m sure you’ll get to see the ocean. There are crystal clear lakes that freeze in the winter, so you can walk from one end to the other. There are huge buildings so tall that if you stand on the top floor, all the people on the street below all look like ants. There are cites swarming with people, and quaint country sides with rolling hills and flower gardens. In my world, you can go wherever you wanna go, and you can be whoever you want to be...”  
You pause to study his face before continuing. He still had his eyes on the night sky, but you could tell his eyelids had begun to lower, his lashes pointing towards wind flushed cheeks. You continue to talk in length about the beauty of a world not terrorized by titans, and you can start to feel his body put down it’s barriers. It was slow at first, but you could feel his shoulders start to unknot themselves. His back relaxed slightly against your thigh, head still cupped between your legs. His breathing had slowed, and you could have sworn there was the smallest twinge of a smile at the very corner of his lips. You continued to caress his hair; making repetitive sweeping and twirling motions, letting the wispy black stands slip in and out of your fingers. He was starting to unravel between your fingertips.  
A significant amount of time passes under the stars, even you get lost in your own worlds… thinking back to how trivial your problems once seemed.You gaze back down at Levi in your lap. To your surprise, you realised you were too focused on your own words to notice that he had fallen asleep. With his arms laid delicately at his sides and his head in your hands, you felt him finally open up completely. As his chest moved slowly up and down, and you found yourself grinning at the peaceful expression on his face. His skin was as smooth as porcelain, no longer twisted in his usual scowl. You looked over at his small nose and dark eyelashes flickering in the breeze, he was actually quite… pretty. You watched his lips slowly part, a small and sleepy hum escaping from them. You could no longer feel the weight of him on your lap, almost as if he were floating. You brought your hand up to his temple to tuck a strand of his hair behind his ear.  
You spent the rest of the night sitting and watching the stars slowly fade into a pink sunrise as the sun crept up among the sloping hills on the horizon, because you wouldn’t dare awake Levi. Not when he looked so cute.


End file.
